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Thursday, February 11, 2010

This one isn't a recipe, just a quick dinner we made tonight.I took a free range chicken and.....well, it apparently wasn't a FREE range chicken, the store employees chased me when I left without paying for it. I should sue them for false advertising. Plus that cavity search was totally unnecessary, what do they think I am, a free range chicken?

Anyway, I made a compound butter with basil & thyme. I stuck tablespoon sized pieces up under the skin of the bird. Then I microwaved a few leftover pieces and brushed it on top of the bird. A little S&P, placed on a preheated cast iron skillet and onto the Big Green Egg at 400f (indirect heat w/ the plate setter in).After the bird hit 120f in the thigh, I added some aromatics and 1/4 cup of white wine.Sure, you COULD do this in an oven, but you'd miss out on this. Why oven baked chicken sucks.....Once the chicken hit 180f in the thigh and 160f in the breast, I removed it to a plate. I kept all of the veggies and one to two tablespoons of the rendered juices. I added a few cups of cooked rice and mixed it together, then returned the chicken to the skillet.Plated a little dark meat with some sliced breast.It was very good, but it wasn't as good as my smoked chicken recipe with crispy skin. On the other hand, it didn't take 3 hours to make either and this dish comes with rice....WIN!

Looks great! I like the idea of adding rice at the end. Try it with the veggies on the plate setter and the chicken on the grate above them. The skin gets crispy and you still get all that chicken goodness dripping into the pan.

I love a crispy skinned roast chicken more than almost any kind of meat. I like the compound butter idea - I imagine the butter would make it juicier. I notice you spatchcocked it - still want to try that, too. Beautiful post!

Oh but it *is* a recipe :) Tells me everything I need to know to make it. Except that I'll have to use my sucky "Big Beige Oven" instead of a Big Green Egg since I don't have one and my birthday is too far away to hold out hope for a remedy to that anytime soon, alas.